Masteries

Offense: 21

Defense: 9

Utility: 0

Akali - The Shadow Assassin

Akali is an amazing champion that excels at killing her enemies quickly. She is an Assassin, meaning that she helps her team by focusing the enemy carry to give her team an advantage. She can be a great threat to your enemies, as long as you play right.

As for the gameplay itself, she is very fun to play with. She has amazing abilities that can be used for both attacking and escaping. Akali looks like she escaped from an anime and that's one of the many reasons I'm so obsessed with her!

However, Akali has her flaws as well. She is a very situational champion that can be countered quite easily if the opponent team knows what they are doing. However, any champion can be viable in the right hands. Akali is not the exception.

So, I hope this guide will be helpful. It also includes a gameplay section, so you can learn her flaws and play better. To be honest, this guide aims to help players that haven't played Akali, but I hope it can be helpful for those who play her regularly.

Greater Glyph of Ability Power
If you want to have more Ability Power right from the start, consider getting these. They will give you a massive boost early, but not as much Ability Power as Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power.

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist
Most of the time, you will be versus a champion who uses Ability Power, like Ahri. By getting these, you will sacrifice some damage to have more survivability in lane. They are certainly useful.

Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed
I wouldn't get these normally, but I get they will give you some Movement Speed, enough to help you catch up to your enemies. Many players can benefit from these.

Primary

Flash
It can save you from an ugly situation or close the gap between your opponent for securing a kill. A very useful spell which I always pick.

Ignite
This is also used for securing a kill. It's not only good for finishing a champion early. Because of Energy issues, Ignite can help you a lot in late game.

Alternative

Exhaust
If you feel that Ignite falls off later and you can live without it, pick Exhaust. It is useful and it synergizes well with Akali. Chase enemies or escape. Good for trading blows too.

Mark of the Assassin Akali spins her kama and marks her target, dealing damage. Akali's melee attacks against a marked target will trigger and consume the mark to cause additional damage and restore Energy.

Shadow Dance Akali moves through shadows to quickly strike her target, dealing damage, by consuming an Essence of Shadow. Akali has 3 charges and recharges them with time or upon kills and assists.

Tips & Tricks

Use your Shadow Dance in a minion wave to catch to an enemy or escape.

Don't use it carelessly.

Primary

Mercury's Treads
Usually I pick Mercury's Treads because of the Magic Resistance and Tenacity it gives, but your choice is based on the enemy team. If you want some Magic Penetration, get Sorcerer's Shoes.

Hextech Gunblade
This item gives you some Spell Vamp, Ability Power, Attack Damage and Life Steal. This is the best item you can get because it synergizes with Twin Disciplines. Don't forget to use the Active!

Rabadon's Deathcap
All champions that use Ability Power get this item. It gives you a huge amount of Ability Power and a Passive that increases it even more. Buy Needlessly Large Rod first if you can afford it.

Guardian Angel
A very popular item for Akali. It gives you Armor, Magic Resistance and a Passive that revives you upon death. If that's not useful, I don't know what is.

Lich Bane
This is a very useful item because it synergizes well with Akali. It gives you Ability Power and Movement Speed. It can also deal bonus magic damage equal to your Ability Power.

Zhonya's Hourglass
You will be surprised by how useful this item can be for Akali. It has everything she needs. Since Akali can be focused a lot at times, Zhonya's Hourglass can be very rewarding.

Alternative

Abyssal Scepter
This item can be more rewarding than Void Staff, only if the opponent team has less than 100 Magic Resistance. It gives you Magic Resistance too, useful if you are laning against a Veigar.

Deathfire Grasp
It's a great initiator in team fights and gives you massive Ability Power and some Cooldown Reduction. Overall, it's a great item for Akali.

Mejai's Soulstealer
Although this gives you enormous Ability Power, it is quite risky. Take this only if you are doing really good in the game. It can also give you some Cooldown Reduction.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter Rylai's Crystal Scepter can help you chase your opponents easier. If you want, you can replace something else with this, since it can be very useful with the extra Health it gives you.

Void Staff
With Void Staff, you have 35% Magic Penetration, which is good if the opponent team is stacking Magic Resistance. Replace Zhonya's Hourglass with this if that's the case.

Will of the Ancients
If your team consists mostly of Ability Power champions, or if you just want more Spell Vamp and Ability Power, Will of the Ancients is a great choice.

Builds

Not sure what items to take? Are you confused with the alternative items? If you are, I think this chapter will help you develop your own build and make you find your playstyle.

It features some of the most common builds for Akali. Remember, this helps you find the build that benefits you most. You shouldn't follow these builds if you don't benefit from these items.

Unkillable Assassin

This is my standard and one of the best builds you can get. It gives you the most survivability and Ability Power from any build, thanks to Guardian Angel and Zhonya's Hourglass, which can help you in case you are focused often.

Powerful Assassin

This is another good build. It gives you some survivability and a good amount of Magic Penetration and Ability Power. Here, we trade Zhonya's Hourglass with Void Staff, if the opponent team has a lot of Magic Resistance.

Standard Assassin

This is Akali's normal build and the one used by most people, through I don't use it anymore. It gives you a good amount of Ability Power and some survivability. Rylai's Crystal Scepter can be essential to Akali due to the stats it gives you.

Suicide Assassin

Troll build incoming. This build isn't viable at all, but offers the most Ability Power. Mejai's Soulstealer is a very risky item and you shouldn't get it, unless your opponents are starters. The Ability Power this can give you is huge. Again, this isn't viable. At all.

Ahri

Ahri is a very powerful champion, with great harassing skills. Unfortunately, Akali is her counter, since Akali can harass her harder. Ahri's abilities rely on skill, so she has to land her abilities in order to do some damage.

Annie is a very powerful caster. Her burst damage is huge and she can stay in lane thanks to her Disintegrate. She is a counter of yours before you get your Shadow Dance. Play safe if you have Annie as your opponent, but not extremely passively.

Tips & Tricks

Don't engage when Pyromania is up, wait for her to waste it on farming.

Harass her from your Twilight Shroud, activate the mark if you can and get away quickly.

An experienced Brand can give you some trouble. Truth is, Brand has to land his abilities in order to do damage, like Ahri. The problem is his abilities can land easier. Also, depending on the combo he will use, he can stun you or damage you overtime.

If he uses Pyroclasm, get away from minions or champions so it won't bounce.

Difficulty

5

Darius

Darius is a very overpowered champion, simply because of his Noxian Guillotine and the difficulty of countering him with items. Many people think that Darius counters Akali. That's not entirely true. You can win against him, if you are careful.

Tips & Tricks

Stay back and harass him from a distance, so he can't use his Decimate on you.

You won't see Fiddlesticks in much games, or if you see him, he will prefer jungling. However, even if he decides to lane, he isn't much of a threat. Although he has very good sustain with his Drain and 2 Crowd Control abilities, he is a very squishy champion.

Tips & Tricks

Normally, harass doesn't work on him, but it is vital to do it since you have Energy.

If he uses Dark Wind, make sure to back off a little so it won't bounce to you.

Keep in mind that if you are chasing him, he will most likely use Terrify to fear you.

Difficulty

4

Karthus

Karthus isn't really a threat to anyone. The reason most pick him is because of his team fighting potential (thanks to his Death Defied) and his Requiem. You are not his counter but you can win against him very easily. He can be very annoying through.

Katarina is almost like you. She is an Assassin too, but she has better harass with her Bouncing Blades and can close a gap with Shunpo, or escape. But, here's the good news. Although she can harass you frequently, your harass can do more damage.

Tips & Tricks

Your cooldowns are better, play offensive and harass her when you have the chance.

Lux is a great asset in any team. She is a very strong champion with amazing abilities. Overall, a very viable choice. However, Lux shouldn't be a problem against you. Although a good Lux will give you a hard time, if you avoid her abilities you should be fine.

Veigar has the ability to reach as much Ability Power as he wants and can also burst down Ability Power champions with ease, thanks to his Primordial Burst. Try to get some kills from him early so he won't be much of a threat later.

When you are low on Health, make sure to benefit from the Spell Vamp that comes with your Twin Disciplines. Use your abilities to heal faster.

From my personal experience, I think it's better to deny some farm in order to harass your opponent or even get a kill from him, in order to snowball harder. Of course, that depends on your opponent.

Last but not least, you shouldn't overextend too much because you will be susceptible to ganks. Zoning is extremely important. That said, don't use Crescent Slash to farm because the lane will be pushed fast.

Ganking

Sometimes, your lane won't go as well as you wanted to. That's why, as Akali, it's important to gank other lanes to get kills. When your opponent is missing, it's probably a good time to gank.

In order to gank, you want to have Shadow Dance so you can have better odds of killing your opponent. When you find an opening, engage and try to kill the enemy quick.

You can also place Twilight Shroud on your opponents before or after engaging, to surprise or slow them. Just remember that if you do your Twilight Shroud, it will be hard to escape if something goes wrong.

After the gank, it is very possible that your opponent has pushed the lane to your tower. If that's the case, come from behind and do your Twilight Shroud behind him so he can retreat. Use that time to harass him.

Team Fights

Positioning is a vital role in team fights. As Akali, you must be behind everyone. When the team engages in a fight, you must always be last.

Focus the enemy carry and do your Twilight Shroud if you are focused. Don't ever go first. You will die and probably the enemy team will score an Ace.

Early, this is very useful for harassing your enemy. At this time, Crescent Slash is like a mini Decimate, that's why it's important to harass with it when you can.

Normal Combo

Use this combo if you have time to kill someone. When you land your Mark of the Assassin, you wait for the cooldown to go off, and then you engage. Mark lasts longer than cooldown.

Flash Combo

In this combo, we replace Shadow Dance with Flash. We use it if our Shadow Dance is on cooldown. However, it's very risky, so use it only if you know you can kill your opponent.

Quick Combo

This is the combo you want to use when you have to kill the enemy quick, or if you are chasing someone. As with the Flash combo, better use it if you know you can kill the opponent.

Hextech Gunblade Combo

When you have Hextech Gunblade, you can use this to slow your opponent. With the help of the slow, you will have enough time to use your full combo and finish him.

Team Fight Combo

This is the same combo we use as our normal combo. The difference is that we don't wait for the cooldown on Mark of the Assassin. You can also do your Twilight Shroud between this combo.

Summary

I added some images so you can understand better Akali's playstyle. This is not a normal game, and most of the time, it will not look like in these images. For example, the positioning part is poor but I hope you get what I'm talking about. Anyway, I hope these will be helpful.

That's it guys! I hope my guide was helpful for all of you. I would love to hear your thoughts about it. If you have any questions about the guide or Akali or anything in general, feel free to ask. I will be here updating and making this guide better for you! Again, thanks for the feedback you all provide me with!

Special Thanks

She is definitely the first person I should add here. She was kind enough to share her knowledge about making guides with beginners like me. Without her, this here wouldn't exist.

He helped me more than he can imagine. He provided me with information for the build, helped me with the template and was patient enough to answer all my questions.

A simple mention here wouldn't be enough. She did all these banners for me, including a line divider, and helped me make the guide more appealing.

FAQ

Do i have to get my items with the same order as you?

Absolutely not. You have to tweak the order of your items depending on the game and your playstyle. As a situational champion, Akali has a situational build too. For example, some people get Rylai's Crystal Scepter before Hextech Gunblade. You should do the same if you think it's better.

League of Legends is a team based, real time strategy game set in a mythical world of swords & magic where epic battles decide the fate of mystical nations. Game players take on the role of a Summoner who conjures and controls champions to fight for them at the Institute of War. During game play champions gain experience and items to enhance their skills and abilities. How players develop and play their champions can be the difference between a crushing defeat or a glorious victory!